Middleboro reaches landfill agreement

Friday

The town has negotiated a deal to bring its waste to the Brook Street landfill when its contract with the SEMASS waste-to-energy plant ends in 2016, a move that prevents trash fees from tripling.

The amended contract will be presented to special town meeting, which is set to begin Monday at 7 p.m. at the high school.

Steven Morris, a member of the town’s Solid Waste Task Force, told selectmen this week that the town’s $25-a-ton disposal fee with SEMASS was scheduled to jump to $75 a ton if the town renewed its contract with the plant in four years.

The rate increase would mean a tripling of trash disposal fees to residents who are billed quarterly.

“If we can tie in at $25 a ton, we know we are not going to do any better than that,” Morris said about the amended contract with Waste Management, which operates the town’s landfill.

Selectmen voted unanimously this week to support the amended contract, which is covered under Article 14 in the town warrant.

Former Selectman Lincoln Andrews, a member of the Solid Waste Task Force, said the town began examining landfill costs three years ago.

“All the communities around here were in a panic as to what was going to happen (with the trash fees),” said Lincoln.

“Waste Management’s initial proposal was very, very reasonable. They were a pleasure to deal with,” said Lincoln.

Morris said the amended contract, which covers the period from 2014 to 2031, is good for both sides. In exchange for getting a low rate of $25 a ton, the town will allow Waste Management to bring in more trash and increase its revenue, and the town will benefit because it gets a payment per ton.

The town can earn an annual payment of up to $376,000 or $6.3 million over the 17-year contract.

Town Manager Charles J. Cristello said the town will also save an estimated $40,000 in fuel costs annually by driving to the landfill rather than SEMASS in Rochester.

“We think this is a good agreement,” said Morris, who served on the Board of Selectmen when it signed the contract with SEMASS nearly 24 years ago.

Selectmen Vice Chairman Allin Frawley said a concern of the new contract is the increase in commercial truck haulers from 30 to 35 a day.

“Based on historical truck count data, we expect this maximum daily will occur only a few times per year,” said Peter J. Richer, environmental engineer for Waste Management.

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